Ukrainian Baptists Elect Another Representative in Council on Pastoral Care of Ministry of Defense

Deputy Head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians Baptists (AUCECB) Mykhailo Andrashko was elected new representative of the Council on Pastoral Care of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

According to the website of the AUCECB, on August 30, a meeting was held between the leadership of the AUCECB and Christian military men. The head of the Christian Military Association of Ukraine, Vasyl Khimich, told the participants about oppression by the traditional churches and the dismissal of the Baptists, who are the only Protestant representatives, from the public council of the Ministry of Defense.

According to Khimich, Protestants were invited to visit only those military units with a large number of Baptist servicemen. If there are only a few Baptists in a unit, they are to be allowed to attend Protestant churches on Sundays.

It is mainly the priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate who can become chaplains in the army. According to Khimich, to normalize the situation, there should be a representative of the same spiritual order as priests of Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the council. Therefore, in addition to the secretary of the Council on Pastoral Care of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vasyl Khimich, Protestants will be also represented there by Mykhailo Andrashko.